Centrifugal pumps have been used for many years for pumping of liquids such as foods. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,481,273 and 4,538,959. A problem that has occurred with such pumps is the fact that the pump impeller will cause rotation of the liquid flowing through the inlet conduit. This action, sometimes referred to as "pre-whirl", causes a loss of efficiency in the pump. It also requires that a relatively high net positive pressure must be maintained in the inlet in order to cause pumping to continue. Previous attempts to address this problem have included the use of an inlet having a relatively narrow neck adjacent the impeller as seen, for example, in FIG. 1 of the above-noted '959 patent. While such previous modifications have improved the problem to a degree, it has still persisted, and, thus, the need has continued to exist for improved pump designs that maintain high pumping efficiency at low positive inlet pressures.